Choosing a career that allows you to make a direct positive impact in someone’s life can be very rewarding. There are many different ways in which you can find work in a caring field. Quite a few of these require some education and training as well as certifications. This is a good thing as you will need effective skills to help people along with your empathy and kind heart.
Luckily, digital options have made it very easy to not just find locations where you can get trained but to even seek online care certifications that give you a taste of what the caring field can be like. You can learn how to become a home health aide, what it entails, and how you can better prepare for the responsibility and long hours.
This is very important as careers that put you around people who are suffering or ill or going through a hard time will test your patience. It is important that you understand what could be required of you and have a clear idea instead of a rosy view. Some people do not take well to needing help at all. If this makes you uncomfortable, there are still jobs you can do where you help people but do not have to be in direct physical contact with them.
Let’s explore a few of these jobs so you can gain a better understanding of the options available to you.
Home Health Aide
This is a profession that always has openings. Home health aides are needed to help elderly people, disabled people, those recovering from an illness or accident, and similar. As a home health aide, you will be expected to take on personal care responsibilities that your patient is no longer able to fulfill for themselves. This can range from grocery shopping and laundry to helping them bathe and change medical dressings. In the case of those with more certifications and training, you could be cleared to help patients take their medication on time and in the correct amounts. This is a lot of responsibility and you must possess a great deal of good humor and patience to do this job well.
Rehabilitation Specialist
This is a job that will require you to go back to school or refresh your medical knowledge to transition into this role. Physical therapists can easily become rehabilitation specialists because they have the same or similar skill set. These specialists help patients who have suffered a life-altering injury or accident. They help people recover from strokes or serious accidents. Rehabilitation specialists can also offer resources and services to people who have lost a limb or are recovering from a serious mental condition. Their focus is on helping people to return to their lives able to care for themselves and have as much independence as they can manage in their altered state.
Emergency Dispatcher
Emergency medical dispatchers receive calls from patients and doctors who need an ambulance. While the doctors can give you direct and clear answers, you will likely face some distressing calls from regular people. People who need emergency service are usually in a great deal of stress, anxiety, and worry. You will need proper training along with a calm and level-headed personality to be able to help these distressed people the way they need.
In some cases, you may need to work speedily to send emergency services while staying on the call to help a person calm down. In other cases, you will need to get them to regulate their distress simply to get them to communicate the information you need to send emergency personnel. It can have a great emotional toll on a person as you may often not be able to find out the resolution of the calls and have to hope that everything went well.
Substance Abuse Counselor
Many people who turn to substance abuse are actually struggling with a great deal in their life. They lack the knowledge or resources to change or even know that their situation can change. Substance abuse is simply a symptom of a larger issue.
Substance abuse counselors help patients who suffer from substance abuse to recover from the pull of their disease. They help them to learn why they abuse drugs or alcohol and identify what it is that they need to recover from this disease. These counselors can offer support and train the patients in techniques that can help them to resist the addiction and focus on recovery.
Social media has amplified the issue of physical appearance to a deeply disturbing degree. Countless young people are turning to extreme diets, substance abuse, or unsafe medical procedures to try to look attractive. You can help these people in ways that may not traditionally be seen as a caring profession.
Personal trainers can help people to overcome the need to push their bodies in unsafe ways to achieve a look and instead re-focus their efforts on health and well-being. Many people have low self-esteem due to acne or wrinkles or even something common like skin tags and moles. Aesthetic specialists can help these people find a whole new zest for life after treatment. Both personal trainers and aesthetic specialists need some training and certifications.
